The present invention relates to a method for reducing the appetite in mammals. More specifically, the present invention relates a method for the reduction of appetite in mammals, said method comprising administering procyanidin to the mammal, optionally combined with hydroxycitric acid, in an appetite reducing amount.
Overweight and obesity are major problems within the Western community. Due to increased consumption, decreased exercise and changes in the nutritional value of foodstuffs, many humans and companion animals are suffering from overweight or have difficulty maintaining a desirable weight. Many methods have been proposed to solve these problems, for example via the administration of functional ingredients (e.g. nutritional supplements) which facilitate the reduction of overweight.
Ingestion of functional ingredients can contribute to the loss of weight or the maintenance of a desirable weight in a variety of ways. A popular way of loosing weight is the ingestion of thermogenic components, such as ephedrine. Alternatively, weight modification can be induced by influencing the digestive enzyme activity in an attempt to decrease the absorption of caloric nutritional components from ingested foodstuff. Well-known examples of such actions include the inhibition of intestinal carbohydrases or lipases. Other functional ingredients influence the absorption of nutritional molecules without decreasing intestinal enzyme activity. A further effective method for reducing overweight and obesity can be accomplished by the reduction of food intake, for example, by reducing the desire for food through the ingestion of appetite reducing functional ingredients.
EP8I5857 describes an antiobestic agent comprising as the active ingredient tamarind seed coat extracts (procyanidin). According to this application, the tamarind seed coat extract or procyanidin can act as a carbohydrase inhibitor, blood sugar increase inhibitor, monosaccharide absorption inhibitor, cholic acid adsorptive excretion promoter, cholesterol lowering agent, blood triglyceride lowering agent and lipase inhibitor.
WO0054610 describes a food complement for dietetic and/or cosmetic purposes, containing anti-lipase properties, for oral administration. Said food complement is characterized in that it comprises a grape extract rich in or enriched with polyphenols.
Several products are currently on the market advertised to induce weight reduction, some including hydroxycitric acid for reduction of the appetite and minor quantities of procyanidin containing extracts having antioxidant activity. Sunshine Slender(trademark) and T. J. Clark""s Advanced Liquid Weight Loss Formula(trademark) are examples of such products.
As mentioned herein before, weight reduction can be induced via ingestion of a variety functional ingredients. Severe downsides are attached to the application of functional ingredients which affect digestive pathways. Several functional ingredients modify the uptake of nutrients in vivo in an attempt to reduce caloric uptake. The main disadvantage of such procedure is the alteration of the intestinal uptake mechanisms, which may result in a decreased uptake of essential nutrients. Other functional ingredients act on metabolic pathways that induce the breakdown of excess body fat. In general, such components do not exclusively act as body fat reducers, but also can have severe side effects on other organs (e.g. heart). When reducing the food intake through the ingestion of appetite reducing agents, the disadvantageous side effects associated with the aforementioned functional ingredients, are not experienced.
However, known appetite reducing agents also have undesirable side effects. Fenfluramine and sibutramine act on neurotransmitters in the brain, thereby inducing several adverse side effects. Combinations such as ephidrine and caffeine are also known to have appetite reducing effects, however have also been suggested to have adverse side effects. Therefore there remains a vast interest for safe, affordable and effective appetite suppressing functional ingredients with limited side effects.
The present invention discloses a method for reducing appetite in mammals comprising administering to said mammals, appetite reducing dosages of functional ingredients which are safe, are deemed not to have disadvantageous side effects, are affordable and plant derived.
The present invention relates to a method for the reduction of appetite in mammals through administering to said mammals and effective dose of procyanidin. Procyanidins, which have, until now, been used mainly for their antioxidant and carbohydrase inhibitory activity, were surprisingly found to have appetite-reducing properties. The present invention provides in a novel therapeutic and/or cosmetic use of procyanidins, optionally combined with hydroxycitric acid (HCA). Optimal usage of the appetite reducing properties of procyanidin can be achieved through administering procyanidin, optionally combined with HCA, in an amount effective to reduce the appetite, not during the consumption of a meal, but some time after the meal, e.g. when experiencing first feelings of appetite or hunger.
The present invention provides in the demand for an effective appetite reducing agent which is safe.
Without wishing to be bound by any theory, it is the inventors belief that the three main pathways by which glucose is metabolized are: A) oxidation in order to yield energy; b) conversion into fatty acids (de novo lipogenesis), a process which mainly occurs in the liver and c) conversion into glycogen, a process which mainly occurs in the liver and skeletal muscle.
It was suggested by the current inventors that procyanidins inhibit the uptake and oxidation of glucose by peripheral tissue, thereby increasing the availability of glucose for the conversion of glucose into glycogen in the liver. The increased glycogen formation is thought to have an appetite reducing effect. Hydroxycitric acid is thought to decrease the formation of fatty acids from glucose (de novo lipogenesis) thereby stimulating the storage of glycogen in the liver and inducing an appetite reducing effect. The complementary action of procyanidins and hydroxycitric acid on different metabolic pathways (glucose oxidation and fatty acid formation respectively) could explain the synergistic action that has been observed by the present inventors. The inhibition of either one of the above xe2x80x9cglucose consumingxe2x80x9d pathways would not lead to such a significant increase in the glycogen storage in the liver, since the effect of the inhibition of one pathway could be compensated for through the increase of the other glucose consuming pathway. Inhibition of both pathways, however, may well be responsible for the unexpected appetite inhibiting effect resulting from the combined administration of procyanidin and hydroxycitric acid.